Black Spring Break Traffic Plan To Be Released Next Week

More on the Web

When WLOX News met with the group FOCUS , one of the biggest questions was about traffic. Committee members said they would not release their traffic plan until the middle of next week. They said at that time, they're going to saturate the media with the information so local folks know just what they should expect and plan for.

"We're going to come out with a traffic plan and we're going to ask our local people to look at it and plan their days around this traffic plan that we have," Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway said. "We're going to try to get everybody, the breakers, on Highway 90, keep them out of our neighborhoods and give us room to move around in our city."

Holloway admitted he is nervous about the upcoming event, but he and other committee members said they're confident things will be a lot better as a result of all the planning they've done.

For example, they've received help from the law enforcement community in Atlanta where an event called Freaknik once attracted as many as 250,000 people and paralyzed the city. After seven years, city leaders came up with a plan there that worked.

FOCUS plans to copy that. Members feel if they make public safety priority number one and they find a way to keep traffic moving, the event will be successful.

"The thing is, that you really don't know how many people you got coming, but I think that we've worked on public safety, we've worked on protecting the people's rights here,"said Gulfport Mayor Short. "We've worked on areas that we had trouble with before, so I feel like we're ready."

FOCUS member Kathy Egland, who is on the National Board of Directors for the NAACP, also shared her concerns at Wednesday's meeting.

She says the perception in the African-American community is that people don't want the spring breakers to come to the coast and she says, as a result, race relations are becoming even more strained. She says the black community needs to be more proactive in lending support to make the event work.

"There is some talk of having a welcome center during the event and some other things that would make the spring breakers feel welcome," Egland said.

It hasn't been decided yet where that would be, but as with the other information about the traffic plan, we will pass things along as we hear about them.

The Biloxi and Gulfport police chiefs as well as the Harrison County Sheriff have all asked outside agencies to provide extra officers and deputies during the event.

One thing that had been mentioned several months ago was bringing in the National Guard. Officials said Wednesday that would not happen.

Thousands of Ingalls workers will receive a second bonus check this week. (Photo source: WLOX)

Thousands of Ingalls workers will receive a second bonus check this week (photo credit: WLOX)

Thousands of Ingalls Shipbuilding workers will get a lot of extra money in the paychecks this week. It's the second installment of a contract bonus from a new contract deal the company and unions reached last November.

Thousands of Ingalls Shipbuilding workers will get a lot of extra money in the paychecks this week. It's the second installment of a contract bonus from a new contract deal the company and unions reached last November.

Bryant has said multiple times that he wants Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child. Source: Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves

The law goes into effect immediately and the only exceptions are if a fetus has health problems making it incompatible with life outside the womb at full term or if the mother's life or "major bodily function" is threatened by the pregnancy. Pregnancies resulting from rape or incest are not exempt from the new law.

The law goes into effect immediately and the only exceptions are if a fetus has health problems making it incompatible with life outside the womb at full term or if the mother's life or "major bodily function" is threatened by the pregnancy. Pregnancies resulting from rape or incest are not exempt from the new law.

Nikolas Cruz appears in court for a hearing in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on Monday, Feb. 19. Authorities said Cruz’s brother was arrested for trespassing at the same school on Monday, March 19. (Source: Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Nikolas Cruz appears in court for a hearing in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on Monday, Feb. 19. Authorities said Cruz’s brother was arrested for trespassing at the same school on Monday, March 19. (Source: Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Authorities say the brother of the teen charged with killing 17 people at a Florida school has been arrested for trespassing at the same school.

(Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP). FBI agents work the scene of an explosion in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 18, 2018. At least a few people were injured in another explosion in Texas' capital late Sunday, after three package bombs detonat...

Officials reported that an explosion in southwest Austin injured two men in their 20s who were hospitalized with injuries that didn't appear to be life-threatening.

Robert and Irma Talamantez have both practiced Santeria for nearly three decades. They said they aren't cruel and they aren't criminals, they're just believers in a misunderstood religion. (Source: KSAT/CNN)

Robert and Irma Talamantez have both practiced Santeria for nearly three decades. They said they aren't cruel and they aren't criminals, they're just believers in a misunderstood religion.